Snowboarding in Colorado

When Neal and I started dating, he told me I was going to have to learn to snowboard because it was one of his favorite things to do, and he wanted to share the joy he felt in it with me.

The story that he didn't know at the time: my junior year of high school I had gone on a ski trip with my choir.  We went to Winter Park for a choir competition, and on the other days we were up there, we got to ski or snowboard.  During this trip, I attended one of the classes provided by the ski resort, and after a day of learning, went off to tackle the mountain with my friends and mom (who had come up with me as a chaperon on the trip).  During my attempt at snowboarding, I ended up going end over end down the slope, and injuring my knee.  I got to take the lucky ride down the mountain in a tobagan pulled by ski patrol.  Needless to say, I hadn't gone snowboarding since then.

After many tears (by me) and promises of patience and loyalty (by Neal), he finally convinced me to allow him to teach me to snowboard.  I must admit I was pretty convinced he wouldn't be able to teach me.  He patiently spent multiple days going slowly down the same run over and over again teaching me how to safely snowboard, and have fun in the process.  I must admit now, that I'm very glad he did!

Neal and I on lift 2 at Loveland

This year is when I really started getting the hang of it, and enjoying myself when we've gone up.  We bought a bunch of four-packs to Loveland Ski Area this year, and we've had friends go up with us.  We also gave my brother a ticket for Christmas, and brought him up one day to teach him how to snowboard.   Almost every time we've gone up, it's been absolutely beautiful, and we've had so much fun!  

Kelsey, Cole, me, and Neal after an amazing day.

It's also been a very positive experience for our relationship.  Neal had to have great patience and perseverance (especially on the days when I cried a run into the day).  I had to learn to set aside my fears, and trust that Neal would help me, and wouldn't ditch me when he got frustrated.

Here are some pictures of the trips we have taken over the last year!  Enjoy!

A sweet panoramic Neal took from the tippy top

A sweet shot of Neal's snowboard

The only BAD weather we had all year!  It was snowing so badly we literally couldn't see!

Courtesy of Kelsey Hansen - look at the sweet flex in that board!

An epic fall Neal took.  It took him a bit to get his board out of the snow.

Neal, me, and Richard on a lift

Neal up on top of lift 9

It's March. Why is it snowing??

Earlier this month we were asked by the leaders of our church to pray and fast for moisture sufficient for the needs in our area.  We had so many wildfires last year, and it drained the area of water supplies putting them out.  There also has been a lack of snow and rain in our area, and so there hasn't been enough water to replace the water that was used last year.

The day after this special fast, it snowed.  It wasn't supposed to snow at all, and we got about an inch of snow.  Since then, we have been blessed with several days of rain and snow.  It has been wonderful to know that Heavenly Father has heard our prayers, and blessed us with the moisture.

Here are a few pictures of the last storm we had of super wet, heavy snow.  It was absolutely beautiful. 

Swagbucks

So I discovered Swagbucks a couples weeks ago, and I love it.  For anyone who doesn't know what Swagbucks is, it's a website that you can earn "swagbucks" on, and redeem the swagbucks for gift cards (like Amazon), and other things.  It's kind of like a credit card cash back reward program, but you don't have to have a credit card.

You can watch videos, play games, use their search engine, check out products, and answer polls or surveys.

I KIND OF cheat because I just let the videos play while I am at work (I've figured out you don't ACTUALLY have to watch them).  For every 10 videos you watch you get 3 swagbucks.  You need about 500 swagbucks to get a $5 giftcard.  But hey! A $5 giftcard over a couple weeks is better than none at all!

If you want to start a swagbucks account and start earning, go ahead and leave a comment, send me an email, or call/text me.  I can send you an invite (and then I get swagbucks for recommending you!)



****Update**** I found out recently that you earn more swagbucks if you refer people (which makes sense when I think about it).  I also discovered that they have TONS of baby stuff that you can redeem your swagbucks for.  Thought that would be kind of cool for all you mommas out there!

Cleanliness is next to Godliness

This old Hebrew proverb, and Doctrine and Covenants 88:119 have been on my mind quite a bit lately.  I have realized recently that I have kind of let the cleanliness of our home go to the wayside.  I went from being OCD about how clean our house was, spending all of my free time cleaning, to just ignoring the clutter and mess that were building up around me.  I was frustrated because I could feel it becoming more and more difficult to feel the Spirit strongly in our home, and I couldn't figure out why.  We were still striving as hard as we ever had to keep the commandments and to draw closer to God.

Then it hit me: there was so much clutter in our house that I was having a hard time focusing on matters of the Spirit instead of the mess around me.

It wasn't healthy to allow my house to go into complete disarray, but I also know that my compulsive cleaning prior was not healthy either.  So, I started a new goal.  Each week, Neal and I were to come up with a specific part of cleaning to work on.  My first one was putting the dish I was using in the dishwasher right after I used them rather than letting them pile up in the sink.  If the dishwasher had clean dishes in it, then I would empty it so I could put my dirty dish in the dishwasher.  Neal worked on putting away his clothes after he wore them (whether that meant in the laundry basket or in a drawer) instead of piling them on the end of the bed.

These things to work on have made us think more about how to clean as we go, and so even though they haven't been on our "list of things to work on," things like folding laundry right away, and hanging coats up, and wiping up kitchen messes have started happening, too.  Our room is more clean than I've seen it in a couple months.  Hahaha.

When I woke up this morning, I had a different feeling than I usually do when I woke up.  I didn't feel like I needed to jump up and spend the time before I went to work cleaning our house.

This was new for me.  I usually wake up, look at the clutter around me, and feel overwhelmed by it all.  Then I sit on the couch and watch TV until I have to go to work.  This morning I looked at our room and felt GOOD.  I came out to the kitchen and didn't see a pile of dishes in the sink that needed to be washed.  All I really NEEDED to get done was fold the last load of laundry that we did yesterday.

The best part is slowly, and surely, the presence of the Spirit is coming back more strongly in our home.  Our house isn't perfectly clean, and I don't expect it to be (unlike when I compulsively cleaned).  I know that we are doing our best, and progressing each day.

It feels fabulous!

Date Nights

In January, Neal and I were talking about our lack of restaurant diversity when we go out to eat.  We always, and I mean ALWAYS, go to Chili's, Buffalo Wild Wings, and on a rare occasion Red Robin or Lonestar Steakhouse.  So, we decided to come up with a list of 12 restaurants that one or both of us have not tried, and assign one restaurant to each month for our monthly "date night."

In January, we went to Famous Dave's.  In February, we went to Rodizio's for our combo Valentine's Day dinner/date night.  Neal had never been to Rodizio's before, and let me tell you, even though it is expensive, it is totally worth the price.  The meat was fabulous, and all of the other things they had were absolutely amazing.

Last night, we went down to the temple, and then went to Texas Roadhouse (our restaurant for March) for dinner.  It was pretty good, and a fun experience (PS, for those of you who have kids...Tuesday is kid's night, kid's meals for $0.99).

The Denver LDS temple

Neal at Texas Roadhouse.  Apparently date night isn't fun enough to get a real smile ;)

Wedding photos

Our friend Melissa needed a couple to do some wedding photos for her to add to her portfolio.  Neal and I figured, "We still fit into our wedding clothes and look like we could have just gotten married," so we contacted Melissa and set up a time and a place.

These pictures turned out gorgeous!  I absolutely love them!  The sun was in a perfect spot, and gave a beautiful light for these pictures :)

I don't have the pictures yet, but I will post the link to Melissa's blog here:

http://www.melissasuephotos.com/longmont-colorado-wedding-photographer-amanda-neal/